Thursday, March 27, 2014

12:36 PM

Gov. Scott Walker defended his administration's efforts to reach out to those affected by changes in BadgerCare enrollment standards in a letter to U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

Baldwin, D-Madison, asked Walker for an update last week on the roughly 77,000 Wisconsinites set to move from BadgerCare to the insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act next week.

Baldwin argued that Walker's approach -- which declined federal funding to expand Medicaid, instead reducing the BadgerCare enrollment threshold to 100 percent of the federal poverty level -- "took our state taxpayers down a fiscally irresponsible path" and could lead to an increase in the uninsured population without proper tracking.

In a letter sent yesterday, Walker said the state had "implemented an aggressive outreach effort to increase awareness of changes made necessary by the federal law and to provide information and assistance for those transitioning as a result of the ACA."

He detailed letters and phone calls to affected BadgerCare participants, as well as paper applications sent "after the failed federal rollout of Healthcare.gov left most users unable to sign up for health plans through the exchange."

The governor also touted town halls and editorial board meetings conducted by the state Insurance Commissioner's office, plus meetings with stakeholders and training for navigators and counselors coordinated by OCI and the state Department of Health Services.

"Due to these efforts, Wisconsin has been one of the more successful states in enrolling consumers through the federal exchange," Walker wrote.

In addition, Walker wrote that he would welcome Baldwin's help to ensure "more timely cooperation" from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as well as to resolve "conflicting responses" from the feds on the option of using available tax credits for insurance plans not on the Obamacare exchange. Insurance Commissioner Ted Nickel wrote in a separate letter to federal officials that CMS and the Treasury department indicated they could not authorize that request -- despite the U.S. Health and Human Services Department's allowing those unable to enroll in the exchange to use tax credits for other plans.